Is a 7th author paper even worth mentioning?

[ziggydoc]

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So, I don't mean on the applications, I've already submitted all of my secondaries, and gotten a bunch of rejections/holds. I do have 2 interviews tho.

I actually didn't even list the lab I am currently working in on my primary app because I didn't officially start at that point. However, I worked in the lab over the summer and assisted a PhD student in her project, she just graduated, and is submitting her thesis for publication, and our PI put my name on there. So, is this even worth mentioning to the schools? During interview?

 

[shiftingmirage]

she just graduated, and is submitting her thesis for publication, and our PI put my name on there. So, is this even worth mentioning to the schools? During interview?

I would say no because it hasn't been accepted yet.

 

[ensuii]

Say you did research as an activtiy and what it involved. The paper itself probably isn't worth mentioning.

 

[OneMCATAway]

i dont think it would hurt you if you mention it! i was thinking of talking about upcoming publications that are not even out yet 😛

 

[PermanentWaves]

I would mention it if it was a big paper and accepted to a journal of reasonable impact. I listed being 6th author on a paper with 13 other authors since it was a relatively important study and published in a strong journal. Honestly though, having a peer-reviewed publication at all puts you in the minority among pre-med applicants and is almost always worth mentioning (if it has been accepted; I wouldn't mention it if it were in prep or review).

 

[Sillyshoes]

if you can talk about the research and what you did, go ahead!

 

[JJMrK]

Just mention that you are a coauthor.

Sometimes PIs like to publish a ton of stuff in one paper, which can lead to a bunch of coauthors. If you put in a significant amount of time and are in this situation I'd still mention it. If you had had a PI who likes to publish lots of little papers you might have been second or third instead of seventh.

 

[Mattabet]

Is a 7th author paper even worth mentioning?

Yep. Tell the people.

 

[DaTruMD]

Depends on that paper's groundbreaking-ness.

 

[ShinyDome19]

if you can talk about the research and what you did, go ahead!

Sometimes PIs like to publish a ton of stuff in one paper, which can lead to a bunch of coauthors. If you put in a significant amount of time and are in this situation I'd still mention it. If you had had a PI who likes to publish lots of little papers you might have been second or third instead of seventh.

I agree with these two. If you have a good enough understanding to explain the research to an interviewer and you feel that you contriubuted significantly to the project, then do it. As JimmerJammerMrk said, some PI's still put out large manuscripts, rather than the new trend of putting out several small manuscripts. Large papers tend to have several authors. However, if you didnt make a significant contribution to the paper, for example, if you didnt really keep up with the literature or do a decent % of the lab work, and the PI put you on the paper because he thought he was being nice and just wanted to give a boost to your CV, I wouldnt put it on your application because I can see that turning around and biting you in the a**, depending on your interviewer (if your interviewed by a PhD or MD researcher, they'll know if you understand the research if they question you on it).

But definately put it on your app. if you did contribute significantly. I was told by a admissions counselor to put presented abstracts down on my applications...and if they count, a 7th author paper should count much more heavily.

 

[ziggydoc]

Thanks for all the replies guys, I will prob. mention it briefly in passing, because even tho I did contribute to the project, it was only to help carry out some experiments and it was not my own project. I will most likely just say I did that project during the summer, and now I am actually carrying out my own project. Because to be honest, I do not have a great understanding of the grad student's overall thesis, only the parts I did for her. Well, we'll see haha